Evanescent Spring
by The Wandering Swordsman
Summary: AU. Today was a special day. It might end up as a prologue. SanjixZoro. Mentions of LuffyxZoro.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. **

It was like watching a silent film.

Everything was black and white and the vision was vague and the edges were burned. From the slightest shake, the vision blurred. Everywhere he looked, it was black and no sound, but there was a sound. It was barely hitting in his earlobe, the dull ringing. One key, one note forever pressed, the same way when someone kept their finger on an organ key. It was annoying, but it was a sound.

He turned around and saw a white light. It felt warm on his icy cold skin. He wanted the light, the bright lovely light. He wanted to get away from this dark and cold blackness. He walked toward it, but it seemed that the light was sailing back and away from him. So he ran. He ran to at least get some distance between the light and him when he felt the weight. The weight was on his shoulders and was pulling him away from the brilliantly, peaceful light. He saw that the weight was thick chains wrapping around his shoulders, arms, torso, and legs like giant anacondas. The chains were sucking him back into the darkness in incredible speed and strength. He thrashed around and screamed, his mouth formed words, but there was no sound. No sound, except the soft, dreaded ringing.

When he screamed one more time, he felt an impact on his face. He was thrown onto the floor with chains and all. The pulling had stopped, everything had stopped; all except for the ringing. Someone stood above him but he did not look up. All his dying eyes could see was the light before everything fell into darkness.

And then he woke up.

Sanji sat up in his bed. The dream, or nightmare, had ebbed away. He could not remember much of it but he knew he had seen this dream at least a few times in a month. It was so blurry in his memory but at the same time it was clear. He pulled away the dampened blond hair out of his face and picked up the clock. He could still have an hour or two of sleep, but he did not want to see that dream again, so instead he got up.

Taking a shower, brushing his teeth, changing out into something easy, Sanji headed to the kitchen to fix up a small breakfast. Eggs and ham sounded nice.

Before he opened the refrigerator he glanced at a small magnetic calendar barely hanging on the surface from its weight. It had all the twelve months on its face so the numbers were tiny. He looked away from it to remember what day yesterday was and looked back to see the date. When he found it, he sucked in a breath. There was a large red circle over the day of today. He had scribbled over it with a thick red marker covering the other numbers around it so he would never forget.

"Ah...today is..."

Whatever daily schedule he had in stored was dumped. Today was a special day. Today was going to be treated differently, just as birthdays, holidays, and other pretty days. Sanji quickly returned to the bathroom to change out into a fancier outfit. He now felt glad he woke up early. The dream might have been some kind of good omen. He cooked a slice of ham, sprinkled salt and pepper over his sunny side up and ate them quietly while reading the morning paper. After he washed them thoroughly, he collected the necessary items he needed. He counted the bills in his wallet and had some courtesy to check the missing calls. Today there wasn't any. With the phone still in his hand he dialed a number and pressed 'call.'

After a few rings a voice answered. Sanji smiled, "Hello, this is Sanji..." he talked to the other person on the phone with a subtle mirth. After exchanging a few words Sanji hung up the phone and tucked it in his back pocket. Returning his mood, he headed out the door.

Today was a nice day, perfect for a walk. Taking a car was a waste of time anyways, and the day would end too early. Slipping on comfortable shoes, he slowly strolled down the sidewalk. The air was slightly breezy and the cold gently nibbled on his bare skin. He loved it this kind of season. Sanji grinned and continued on his leisurely pace.

The first place he stopped was at a flower shop. When he called out, a young man with wavy black hair stepped out from the jungle of colorful petals. His long nose caught some vines and pollen and he sneezed.

The man grinned, "Hey Sanji! How are you doing?"

"Great." Sanji leaned over to one of the flowers, "Hey, can I have some of those?"

"The lilies? Sure." Usopp carefully maneuvered over to the box of the white lilies and picked a few good ones, "Do you want it wrapped?"

Sanji thought about it, "Sure, I think he'll like it."

"He-" Usopp froze on his work. The florist turned to Sanji, "Ah, it's today?"

"Yeah."

Usopp nodded as he cut out two transparent wrappings, "I hope he likes it. He loves lilies right?"

Sanji stuffed his hand in his pocket to search for his wallet, "Yeah, he said he grew some in his garden. How much is it?"

"Ah, it's okay Sanji. It's my treat."

"Thanks." Sanji replied as he received the bouquet. It had about ten lilies all wrapped up in a shiny blue ribbon. As the sunlight filtered through the clear wrapping the lilies seemed to glow like fireflies. Smiling from ear to ear, Sanji tucked the bouquet under his arm.

"Hey, uh, Sanji?"

"Hm?"

Usopp fidgeted with his overall buttons, "Do you want me to go with you? I mean-"

Sanji grinned, "Thanks but you know him. He's not good with crowds." The florist gave out a small sigh, an understanding. He waved goodbye to Usopp and set off to the road.

Five minutes through the sidewalk and his feet stopped at another familiar place. He glanced at his watch. It was around noon but the place was vacant, probably because it was a weekday. Sanji walked up the steps and pushed the door open with his open hand. The door chimed and the rich smell of wine welcomed him. The wooden floors creaked as he stepped over them and to the cashier. Behind the desk were rows upon rows of alcohol of all types.

"Hey Sanji." The cashier said as he approached the counter, "What do you need?"

Sanji pointed to the bottle behind him, "That one over on the left."

"All right." Without turning, the man reached behind and grabbed the correct bottle. He set it in front of the blond, "That's forty-seven Belis." Sanji leafed through his wallet and handed a fifty. The cashier ringed as the man picked out change.

While the cashier was collecting the coins, Sanji looked around the store. Shelves of items and food that would go great with wine lined up in neat rows. He was not looking for _something_ in particular, but _someone_. He did not need to search that long; there were only he and the cashier.

"Hey Ace," Sanji asked and quickly regretted it when the young cashier cursed and recounted the coins.

"What?" Ace replied in a little annoyed manner, pushing the coins around on the counter like a mini hockey arena.

Sanji tried to form the right words in his head, "I-is Luffy-?"

Ace sighed and his fingers stopped. He raised his lethargic but dark amber eyes toward Sanji. "Sanji, don't worry about it. Yeah he's still mad but he'll get over it."

Sanji could not help but feel sorry. Luffy was the one who actually introduced him to Zoro. They were close, peas in a pod many said. Luffy must know a lot more about Zoro than anyone in this town, yet in the end Zoro was Sanji's. He remembered the fights, the arguments he and Luffy shared while battling over Zoro.

Zoro, the man everyone in the town knew for his green hair. That was not the only reason why he was famous. He was also the most attractive one. He was followed by many females and sometimes males from many parts of the island, sending him love letters or an invitation. Zoro was a man with few words, which was another reason why he was popular. When he was happy, a smile was his answer. Somehow, out of the hundreds of women, men, and his best friend Luffy, Zoro chose him the newcomer.

Sanji let the memories fill in his mind. A smile played on his lips as he received the paper bag and the change. He realized that Ace was still talking and he hastily tried to hear at least the last few sentences, "-so Sanji, please forgive him. He's...he's still a kid."

Sanji nodded sadly. Although he did not hear the whole part, he knew what Ace was saying. Sometimes Sanji thought of himself as a kid also.

"So, are you going?" Ace pointed his thumb to his left, the destination Sanji was going.

Sanji grinned, "Yeah, Zoro's waiting for me."

Sanji took his time walking up the steep hill. He did not want to waste his time and energy here and not be able to show his excitement to him. The sun was rising over his head and on the left he could see the ocean. He was near the cliff side of the island. As he walked on, the roads got bumpier with rocks and pebbles and the hills got steeper. The winds were colder as he climbed now biting at his nose, leaving a red mark.

Finally, after a few more difficult hurdles, Sanji arrived at the edge of the cliff. He let out a sigh when he took in the great view of the ocean. The waters shimmered like diamonds and sapphires, natural gifts from the sea. How he loved this view and he envied Zoro since he saw this every day. Remembered what he was supposed to do, he briskly walked to a small house.

Around the small house was surrounded by tall white fences. Sanji knocked on the door and while waiting he looked through the space between the fences. He stepped back when he heard footsteps and the door opened out and popped a man, "Hello Sanji, we have been waiting for you." The man moved out of the way to let Sanji in. The blond blankly stared at the interior of the small room. It was a lobby like room; white walls with some picture frames decorated on it. Sanji sighed and stepped through the room, a barrier between the island and the special place protected by the white fence.

When his shoes stepped onto the soft green grass, memories of his dream seeped it. He chuckled. How stupid he was. No wonder it was clear but vague at the same time. His mind wanted to forget it so it abstracted every bit of it.

The constant ringing sound. The dreaded sound Sanji heard the whole hour he was in that room. He had hoped it would change to a more normal rhythmical beats. It singed his eardrums leaving a horrid scar in his heavy heart.

The chains were hands, his friends' hands pulling him away from what he was attempting to do. Sanji was screaming, thrashing around trying to pry the hands, preventing him to get to the light. The light was still bright as the dream. It was the only way to get out from the dark, black world where he was now. He saw that he was crying as he screamed calling a name over and over. He was at the rooftop of a hospital about to fall to his death.

Then the impact. Luffy stuck him across the face causing him to fall to the safe ground. Luffy was trying to stop him from entering the beautiful light. He saw the boy's hands were shaking, holding down all of the anger he had. Sanji could tell Luffy wanted to hit him again. Sanji wanted to throw back insults and maybe some fists of his own but the tears trailing down Luffy's face stopped him.

This should not have happened. Sanji had blamed himself so much he could not handle it anymore. He had broken everybody's hearts, but most of all he had hurt Luffy's. He had taken away Zoro so far that the boy could not reach him anymore.

Sanji stared down at the beautiful black stone. It was made of dark marble, imported somewhere in the far northern islands. It was slightly covered in sand particles the wind had carried with. Still, out of all the stones lined up neatly in straight lines, this one stood out. The stone was covered with flowers in all corners. Everyone remembered today, even Luffy.

He knelt down to face the black marble and smiled, "Sorry to keep you waiting Zoro."

**The End**


End file.
